duke gardens: part one

So, I officially started my photography "internship" with the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau this week!  I have "internship" in quotation marks, because they did originally offer me the internship, but I wasn't able to reconcile the full terms of it with my current work and school schedule, so we decided that I would be more freelance and take pictures whenever events come along or I just happen to be in the area, which I think will work a lot better.  I can do the editing here at home, so the only thing I really miss is helping them catalog their current pictures, but hopefully they'll be able to find a crackerjack photography student who could really benefit from the experience!  Anyway, after my first meeting with the DCVB staff, I decided to head over to Duke Gardens and take some pictures.  Keep in mind that this was a particularly offensive week for me to visit Duke, because they just won the national championship, and I literally went to work the next day in all black because I was in mourning.  Also, I may or may not have a huge crush on this guy.  But I stomached it, and it really was beautiful.  I took a bunch, so come back tomorrow for part two!

While I don't (on principle) encourage visiting Duke University, Duke Gardens are definitely worth the trip while the weather is still nice, and the only cost is the parking fee, which is $1.00 per half hour.  Just make sure to visit Chapel Hill, too. ;)

the parkison family

My family met the Parkison family a few years ago when they moved to Youngsville, NC and Scott became Senior Pastor at our church.  Since then, we've attended a New Year's Eve party (Leanna and I weren't good at keeping it a secret that we had played Cranium before and knew all the cards) and a Sunday lunch at their house, and they have become dear friends of ours!  This past Friday, they came over for some barbecued chicken and potato salad (right after Seth got staples in his head for bumping into their table... ouch), and it was fantastic to get to spend some time with them outside of church again! 

I think Seth enjoyed that tennis ball almost as much as the dogs!

Here's Seth and his "gun," which he used to shoot a few imaginary deer.  He offered me a turn, but I love animals too much ;)

Levi taking shelter from Seth's "hunting."

In the South, we start 'em young.

before...

...and after.

Kelly has these boys so camera-trained, it's incredible.  Any professional would worship the ground they walk on!

Oh, I could just eat them up!

downtown raleigh!

Right across from my office is a little block of land called Nash Square, and it's a nice little oasis in the middle of super-developed downtown Raleigh.  Now that spring has spring, it's extra beautiful!  I spent about an hour there yesterday afternoon, which I had been hoping to do for a while.  But now that my online photography class has started and we're allowed to submit samples every once in a while, I had some extra motivation. 

Nash Square is home to the North Carolina Firefighters' Memorial.

 

 That small building on the right is home to the News & Observer!

We all know how I feel about shoes.

This stately man is Josephus Daniels, who used to be the editor of the News & Observer (hence his presence across the street) and is the namesake of UNC Student Stores!

I love, love, love this magnolia tree.  Just standing under it feels like a dream!

 

I'll probably post a lot more often now that my class motivates me to go discover new places to shoot, so stay tuned!

go dawgs!

So, remember how I said that in college, one of my friends and I would take weekend road trips to random schools that were reasonably close to Chapel Hill for no real reason at all?  Well, the fact that we both have degrees now (we're three years apart, so that took awhile) didn't really change that.  He lives and works in Charlotte, so I drove down on Sunday evening and we took off to Athens, GA on Monday!  We left at the beginning of rush hour, so we were there by 10:45 and stayed until about 3:30, and by that point, it wasn't so much that we ran out of things to do as it was that our legs and feet were ON FIRE.  I forgot how hilly Athens is!  Seriously, even Virginia Tech, which is legitimately in the Virginia mountains, is less hilly.  We were lucky that it was such a beautiful, 65 degree day, because otherwise, we might have given up a lot sooner!

UGA Law School

home of georgia football!  go dawgs! 

the world would be a much better place if we were all this creative.

dorms and classrooms behind the stadium.

these bulldogs are allll over campus, but each is painted differently.

Broad St. entrance to campus.

near the agriculture buildings.

the indoor arena, used for basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics!  I wanted to be a UGA gymnast at one time.  and then I grew to be 5'9".

inside the arena!  you know where their priorities lie when the football stadium is locked and the basketball arena is wide open.

I didn't remember that UGA hosted some of the Olympics, but I guess they did!

for some reason, this bush had blue paint on it.  that's ok... reminds me of UNC.

we stopped at Clemson on the way back!  we definitely took the back way there, but it was a really beautiful scenic route (that David drove like a pro).  I'd been there already back in the fall, but we had both been there back in September of 2006 when they crushed Carolina 53-6 or something obscene like that.  still, it was good to be back.

near the library.

this is actually a picture that David took in downtown Athens, and the "No Cruising Zone" sign made us laugh hysterically when we first saw it!  if you don't get it, that's ok.  I just had to make sure I closed the post with it.

We were both realllly tired and sore at the end of the day, but somehow we still ended up watching tv until 1 am!  I still don't know how we did that, but we couldn't turn off Law & Order, and then Jay Leno was hilarious (this was on his show), and then Jimmy Fallon did a whole bit with captions he wrote for Obama's various facial expressions, so it was really hard to turn off!  But we still had enough energy to walk around Lake Norman and Davidson College the next day, which was beautiful!  And then we ate at Toast, which was AMAZING.  Definitely go!

Oh, and all of our road trips have had a theme song in the past, and it's usually that annoying one that won't stop coming on the radio.  This time, I thought it would initally be Ludacris's "How Low Can You Go," but I think Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" came on soooooo much more.   (I didn't complain.)

more outdoor adventures

I really need to branch out. No pun intended. I actually tried to get away from my own backyard today, but I ended up near a creek in a ditch in the next neighborhood over, and I started wondering how I would escape if someone decided to charge me with a knife. So, I headed back home. I had Dottie (my dog) with me, but she's a Jack Russell Terrier, and "defenseless" doesn't begin to cover it. On a happier note, here are some of my favorites!